Thank God! Some things in life are still free!

Last week I went to the American Center in Connaught Place, Central New Delhi to check out the kinds of cultural programs they offer. I had planned my visit around late afternoon to coincide with the screening of a Hollywood movie that they were show-casing.

Here's my experience of the event:

1. Security check: Of course, whenever something is related with the US, one should always be prepared for a thorough security check. The only difference is that it's more scrupulous, with bags passing through X-ray machine, no liquids allowed, etc. However, the security staff kindly returned our bottles when we asked for them while going out.

2. Library on the first floor: Since it was already late, I couldn't check out the library in detail. I did manage to quickly browse the Fiction section though. To my disappointment, most of the titles were quite old. Regardless, the library is fairly crowded, so it must have a nice collection.

3. Movies for free!: Well, well, well! When we entered the cinema hall, we did not expect the entry to be entirely free! I mean, not even a nominal charge. Amazing! My first thought was that I should have checked the Center earlier when they were screening cult movies like Citizen Kane, All the President's Men, etc. Well, Homeward Bound should also be ok, though it's a kids movie.

4. Theatre or press conference hall?: Inside they have a press-conference hall converted into a theatre with a capacity of about 80-100 seats. The seats are comfortable, though not plush. The AC is still not on, but there must be some natural ventilation. And hang on, they also offer you bottled cold drinks and crisps at the market price of Rs. 15 - 20. To think, when PVR and similar multiplexes charge drinks and crisps at outrageous prices of about 30% higher than the market!

5. Audience: With a cold drink in hand, I decided to check out the audience. Hmmm. Kids movie, but no kids in sight. No wait, there are a couple of ladies with children. A few foreigners. But artists or students of theatre and drama make up the maximum number. It's a totally different crowd from what you see in PVRs. People are here to see the movie, not to be seen.

6. The movie: It's a little late than 3:3o PM when the movie was about to start. The hall is suddenly full. It's Saturday - half-day. So many people from neighbouring offices have ventured inside. The lights are dim and the AC is working now. The movie begins...

It's a Disney classic telling the story of three pets in a family: Chance, a young dog unfamiliar with the world; Shadow, an aging, wise dog; and Sassy, a snobby cat with attitude. Chance belongs to the youngest son, Sassy to the elder daughter, and Shadow to the eldest son. The movie begins with the wedding of the children's mother to a professor who's based in San Francisco. The family moves to San Francisco for a couple of weeks and leave their pets in the care of a friend. But the friend goes out for some work, leaving the pets in charge of a neighbor. The pets now fear that they've been abandoned and Shadow, who's utterly loyal to the eldest boy, decides to walk back home. Chance and Sassy reluctantly follow.

What adventures they go through, how their friendship blossoms, and how they learn about loyalty, love, and respect from each other on that journey is what this story is all about.

It's a 55 minute movie that packages total entertainment for a family. The voices of the pets are done by some well-known names in Hollywood. I know it was Michael J. Fox for Chance.

The movie talks to the child within us. It talks about loyalty and responsibility in a beautifully narrated story shot across panaromic, beautiful Sierras.

7. Overall experience:
1. Budgeted entertainment: Free movie and lots of options to eat delicacies in Connaught Place
2. Proximity: It's the center of Delhi. Convenient to commute on car. If you want to avoid parking headache, just hop on to any bus going to Kasturba Gandhi Marg in Rajiv Chowk. You can also reach through Metro line 3. It's just 5 minutes walk from Barakhamba Road station.
3. Collection: Enjoy the feeling of watching Hollywood classics from the ambience of a cinema hall. You might discuss and analyze the movie over a cup of coffee with the cute, artist guy nearby!

This week, they've screened some animation movie!
Let me check what they're screening next week...

...meanwhile, you take good care of yourself.
Chao!

License to Drive down Memory Lane!

Recently I saw Zee MGM playing the movie 'License to Drive' and I remembered when I saw it first and how...



The year was 1998.

I was preparing for one of my toughest exams - Quantum Chemistry.
While I was lost in the world of theorems and equations, my brother had his own exams in school. So there we were, two worried, exasperated, and really tired souls burning watts of electricity during midnight.


Sometime around 2:15 A.M., we decided to give our tired eyes and brains some rest and have a cup of tea with some telly watching to revive our energy and spirits.


While flicking through channels, we paused at a movie showing a kid going through his driving license test. OK. Wonder Years, another cocky American kid! Let's check it out for 5 minutes before we get off?

But, hey, the kid is funny, the situation is funny, the circumstances are familiar but tickling with their warped sense of humor. It happened to me too, when I was going through the test. Not that bizarre, of course!

So 5 minutes stretched to 15, 30, 60 minutes...till we were rolling around the floor stifling our laughter with our hands, lest the noise travels to our parents' room or neighbors. It was 4 AM in the morning, remember?!

So here are my reasons you should watch this movie:

1. The comedy is cute, funny, and familiar. Situations are bizarre but rocking. There are some superb car-driving scenes (not the Fast & Furious variety) but believable.

2. We all want to return to that age when we were so young and carefree. Imagine...your first crush with the hottest girl in school; when the opinion of your friends mattered more than anyone else's; when they said, "Dude, you're so cool," everything righted in your world; when you were grown up enough to think you could make your own decisions, but still worried about the wrath of your dad when he would find out....Well, this movie transports us back to that time.

3. Fantastic characters played by a brilliant cast. My most memorable chracters:

• Les Anderson - The kid who appears for the driving test and fails (due to his cockiness and over-confidence). However, one request from his high-school crush for a long drive during the night is enough to make him break all the rules and go for a romantic ride with his fair damsel. But little did this knight knew that his adventure would go so horribly wrong - his girlfriend gets drunk and passes out, his nerdy friends nearly get him beaten up, he nearly gets arrested, and his car is hijacked by a drunk driver.
• Mercedes - Heather Graham looks like a Barbie Doll in a silly, frilly pink outfit. Though she's more heavily made up than should be allowed, she still looks like every boy's fantasy. She doesn't have much to do in this movie, but she's very convincing in her role and... did I say pretty?
• Dean - The friend to whom Les brings around the car for some repair work and advice when Mercedes passes out. Dean is hilarious, the ultimate friend who motivates you for every step of self-destruction. The character is brilliantly played by Corey Feldman.
• Mr. and Mrs. Anderson - I simply loved them. Their roles are minor but so believable and absurdly funny. Mr. Anderson gets the shock of his life when he sees the condition of his prized Cadillac. While he was busy threatening Les with every possible repurcussion in the world barring bodily harm, his wife decides to have the baby! But who will save the day and take them to hospital when she wouldn't let go of her husband's hand? Of course, Les!

I suggest you just get your favorite munchkins and rent a DVD on a lazy afternoon and take a small trip down the memory lane!

Happy viewing!

It's Mad, Mad, Mad TV!

It's not always about movies.

My life has a very simple routine. I go to office 5 days a week and return home for dinner, rest, family bonding and entertainment. And like several middle-class houses, I too don't have any option but to switch on the TV channels to see what they've to offer, which can provide some entertainment to me for 2-3 hours before I tuck in for the night. Here's how I've sorted them:

1. Sports channels: The IPL came, conquered, and went, leaving behind a gap. It was a full-toss, total entertainment for a month. Now, I'm on to Euro Football on ESPN. But I'm not religiously following it as IPL. Besides, the timings also are a tad late. Rest, I just hope that India develops other sports besides cricket, so that we can stay awake cheering up for our hockey, athletics, tennis, badminton teams...Amen!

2. News channels:

"Breaking News! Yuvraj is now after Katrina!" - Really a momentous step in my life or that of my country.

"Breaking News! Kareena and Saif in Hum Paanch!" Amazing! How inspiring!

"Breaking News! The world will end in 2016" Really? I better pack up my bags, then.

Sometimes, it's a toss which is weirder? Our so-called news channels which offer 'Breaking News' of the above variety or our endless family dramas? Even if the news is at times interesting and eagerly anticipated, so much brouhaha is made about it - the news remains 'Breaking' even after 4-5 hours. And there are so many commercial breaks in between. You wonder what you are really watching - News with short breaks in between or commercial breaks with short bits and pieces of news in between?

The only sane channels I can think of: BBC and CNN (though not Indian), CNBC, Tez, and Times India. The rest of the channels I'm afraid don't seem to have any fixed format. For example, I know that BBC telecasts news every hour, whether it's 6:30, 7:30, 8:30 AM or PM, but I don't really know about the rest of the channels. Although news channels offer news at prime times, but is that really news or opinions of the same news or discussions.

3. Entertainment channels:

3a. Saas-Bahu dramas: All right! I just can't escape them. I might moan and grumble about them, my family might. But they will be religiouly tuned in at every dinner. If for nothing else, then to just see the latest fashions on clothes, jewelry etc.
Value entertainment? Absolutely not.
Time pass? Certainly, yes.
Tear-jerkers? Are you kidding?
Humor? Yes, if for nothing else, then for sometimes absurdly paths of the storylines.
Eye candy? Definitely. There are some very good-looking guys and girls in them, and some of them can really act too. But usually it's a case of repeating the nice thing too much, endlessly. Like if you admire a star jodi in a serial, then rest assured they will remain star-crossed throughout their lives. They might marry, produce children, even leap up generations but still remain unlucky in love, until a channel boss just wields the baton and asks the producer to wrap up the series.

Which ones to follow? Though I don't watch all of them, I can suggest a few ones which are promising. The storylines are not revolutionary, but at least they seem like stories:

• Hamari Devrani , Bidaai (Star Plus)
• Mata Ki Chowki (Sahara)

I'd like the serials to end in half-an-hour and are humorous and have some nice message. Notable examples are

• FIR and Office Office (Sab TV)
• Baa, Bahu, aur Baby (Star Plus)

3b. Reality shows of songs and dances: Once upon a time, we had a show called Indian Idol which captured the attention of the entire nation. Debates were held on who would win it. Amit Sana or Abhijeet Sawant? Abhijit emerged as the winner, capturing the hearts of the nation. Zee and Star followed the craze, and last year Zee even bested the national obsession of Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi with the winner, battle of gurus reality show of singers. I loved Raja when he sang "Naina das lenge," I cried when Poonam sang "Sabki baratein aayin." I even stayed up to see who would win on the rival Star's reality show.

But now, I just dont' give a damn! To see my point, you just have to tune in every Sunday afternoon. Every channel is hosting their own reality show of singers. It's very sad to see the winners of previous contests once again doing what they are best at - contesting in another reality show of singers, singing old gems of Lata and Rafi, and pleading for votes. Pathetic? It just shows how much credibility these shows have after all with our Bollywood industry. If they were that great, why don't they have their time full of singing new songs? But at least, the reality shows are giving them steady income, giving steady earnings to judges who otherwise just want to take a break from their real jobs of choreography or music direction, and fill up channel coffers.

4. Movie channels:

4a. Hindi movie channels: Every movie channel has one or two films which are its favorite. Cases in point. Zee Cinema loves Rajshri Movies - Maine Pyar Kiya, Hum Aapke Hain Kaun, Hum Saath Saath Hain. They religiously repeat it on most Sundays. Set Max, when not broadcasting cricket, loves Gangajal. I have lost the count of how many times I saw that movie on the channel.

Another common factor is that they love Amitabh Bacchhan. Agreed, he's the great Superstar of Hindi cinema and an amazing actor. But we also have other great actors, some in Black & White Classics. No generation can move forward without learning about the greatness of their seniors. So how about showing some classics of Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand, Raj Kapoor, Guru Dutt, Ashok Kumar, Sanjeev Kumar, and so on? For some readers, these names might read strange, but hey guys, there was life before Amitabh and Khans also? And a better-preserved, more awe-inspiring star presence? If you don't believe me, then ask your mom and dad or grandparents?

4b. English movie channels: Wonderful so far, with just some issues.

• If only HBO could showcase more of its series like Sex and the City, Rome, or Entourage.
• If only Star Movies could show more lighter movies - it's venturing too much into dark territories.
• If only Sony Pix could check its sound quality. I had to drop out from so many movies because the audio was not lip-synching properly with characters on screen.
• If only Zee MGM could show a wider variety of movies. I love Zee MGM's practice of providing transcripts with the movies. They make me more attuned to the movie, I can follow the movie even if I have to mute it (for example, late at night), and I can improve my pronunciation and understanding of the English diction.

5. Life channels (Discover, National Geographic, etc.): Well, they are great! They are like fresh springs of life-saving water in these oceans of mindless entertainment. But sometimes, their topics are, let's say, less interesting to me. For example, I wouldn't like to know what kind of future weapons would be out there or what are boys toys. But these topics would continue for 1 hour at least. So what do I have to do? Switch on to the mindless entertainment finally, which brings me to the last category below.

6. Music channels: The dumbest category of all. You just have to let your brain go to sleep and watch videos after videos of jhatkas and matkas, new movie trailers, and endless monologues of VJs. This is why I think TV was named 'Idiot Box.' Because the brain cells definitely cry when seeing this endless litany of songs and dances, but they are fantastic to pass away the time for a while. Now, the MTV has come up with some reality shows like the Roadies, Splitsville, etc. to offer a bit of variety. But is that really something I'd like to see? Like a voyeur, I too tuned in at times to watch them, but I was totally disturbed by what I've seen in these shows. So much negativity, bitching, back-biting, and meanness. Do we want our values to really become that twisted to achieve what we want, at any cost, values be damned? I just can't bring myself to see that. Please give me Saas-Bahu anytime. They might be dumb, but at least they're not corrupting my thought process!

With this, I wrap up. Happy telly viewing!

Peace and love. XO

Aamir - just another promising debut or birth of a star?

"Do you know the meaning of Aamir?"

"No."

"Aamir means Leader."

Well, I didn't know that too, till I heard this exchange between the two main characters in the movie. I'm an avid movie watcher, but I'm not into star-worshipping. I believe a movie is not just about a star (my apologies to all the fans of Khans, Roshan, and Kumar), but a combination of the most creative team in the world.

When we pay Rs. 100-150 for a seat in the theatre, most of us want to just escape from our own individual realities to another situation and live that. Here, by 'escape' I don't mean Yash Chopra and Karan Johar's kingdom of fantasia, but another sitation - whether it is a middle-class house in Karol Bagh (Khosla ka Ghonsla), a sea-facing bunglaow of a gangster in Mumbai (Mithya), the rugged landscape of Meerut (Omkara), or the house of an NRI in a suburb in London (Namaste London). I believe in escaping into that world and for two-and-a-half hours.

Last week, I went into one such world---the life of an educated, hard-working man who belongs to a minority class in India. The movie dared to touch some very sensitive issues, but dealt with them so responsibly. It touched on the urban realities of the minority by showing some gritty images, characters, and asking some very sensitive questions, and in the end they showed an end that may be depressing, but very heroic.

Rajeev Khandelwal, whom I just knew as the suave, handsome main character of Ekta Kapoor's 'Kahin To Hoga' fame, played the role of a man caught helplessly in a circumstance beyond his control to perfection. The circumstance here was not very easy to digest. Imagine, you fly all the way from London only to find the life of your family is in the hands of an unknown kidnapper on a phone who has a myriad team of bikers, taxi drivers, restaurant owners, pimps and prostitutes at his disposal. You bloody well do not know what is happening, and why is everyone looking at you as if you committed the crime of the century? Where would you go? Police station? Or the asylum? It's a world totally gone wrong.

That is what I would do; not what Aamir does, running post to post following the unknown kidnapper's directions. But wait? Did I tell you that I want to escape into another situation? Yes, that've what the movie captured brilliantly. After spending half-an-hour in disbelief, I started empathizing with Aamir's sitaution. Maybe, it's something I would do too, to protect my family from a mad, jingoist kidnapper who in the name of a community is threatening my family, who incidentally belongs to the same community. Maybe I too would run scared if I saw a policeman suspecting me just because I made a call to Karachi. Maybe I too would fight, cajole, plead the kidnapper and appeal to his sense of right to get my world right.

And that's the beauty of the movie. Right from the first frame, the film captures some very crucial questions. Some fantastic examples:

• When the custom officer keeps on checking and rechecking Aamir's stuff and an exasperated Aamir retorts, "Would it have made any difference if my name was Amar rather than Aamir?"
• When to expose Aamir to another reality as to how his community lives, the kidnapper exposes him to the squalid bylanes of Mumbai, the unwashed, unhygienic and inhumane condition of public loos.
• When just everything in Aamir's world goes wrong, a prostitute, who's a pitiful example of her profession, helps him. Why? Because he was another human being caught in a helpless situation in an indifferent city.

Rajiv played the lead role to perfection. He was confused, angry, determined, helpless, and in the end heroic. Not to mention, really fit and good-looking as ever. The end captured my interest most of all.

• The kidnapper believes that his puppet has done his due in this psychological warfare and created another jihadi, but the puppet just cuts the string. He chooses to blow himself off rather than killing innocent people on the bus, dealing the kidnapper the most vicious blow of all to his psyche.

The movie starts with the statement, "Who says that a man writes his own fate?"

In the movie, too, when Aamir categorically states, "I write my own fate?" - the kidnapper asks him, "Who's writing it now?"

Definitely, there are times when life is just outside our control. Remember how helpless and futile we feel when we undergo the same travesties. But fate is whimsical, if nothing else --- it gives everyone a chance to make a choice and in the end, the hero makes his decision. So what if he has to die in the process? The control of your life should be in your hands --- and that makes one the ultimate 'leader' or 'Aamir.'

Finally, I'll wrap up this review with the following ratings:

• Storyline - 5/5
• Direction - 4/5 (There were a few moments I found unbelievable, when the hero who is asthamatic, just runs and runs after the taxi that has driven off with his luggage. No one is that fit or has that kind of stamina, especially an asthamatic hero :))
• Music - 3/5 (The songs were pleasing to ears but I don't remember them now after a week)
• Choreography - 4/5 (They gelled in the movie and did not stop its flow)
• Acting of Rajeev Khandelwal - 5/5
• Acting of supporting cast - 5/5 (I would have given 10 because of how real and believable they looked)
• Drool quotient of Rajeev Khandelwal - 5/5 (Handsome, intelligent, speaking eyes, fit body...Need I say more?)
• Should you see this movie on cinema hall or a DVD - Personally, I belive in contributing to the financial upkeep of the products that have been good to me, so I always make a point to watch movies in theatres. However, it's an entirely personal decision. The film does not have any special effects that need to be seen in a hall, so you can just rent a DVD (original, please) and watch it from the comfort of your home. It's totally up to you.

Well, that's all for now.

Peace and Love.

Take care.